Severed Realms: A 2D Zelda-like MMORPG.

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Severed World is a 2D Action-MMORPG currently in development, to be available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices. Taking inspiration from legendary titles like Zelda and Secret of Mana, Severed aims to be a splash of life in a seemingly dull and repetitive genre. With stunning pixel art and arcade-like gameplay, you'll be plunged into an immersive fantasy world host to fearsome creatures and ancient treasure, as you try to avoid deadly traps while exploring challenging dungeons.

All content posted in this topic is a work in progress. And as such, we appreciate any constructive criticism to help us improve our project! Feel free to ask questions as well!

A good chunk of the game is complete, after a good four months of dedicated development. There's a lot to summarize, but we essentially have a small game on our hands, with the following mostly finished: interfaces (spell buying, items, stats, crafting), enemy AI, on-screen displays (health, enemy health), partying, player combat, cutscenes, quest handling, saving/networking, loot handling, and instanced dungeons/bosses. Probably more stuff I'm forgetting!

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Hello, I'm the project lead for Severed World! Our game is a fairly ambitious project that I'd like to think is a bit different from what you can expect. Let me tell you a little about it!

[b][u]So, what's the goal here?[/u][/b]

Essentially, we're looking to fill a niche. That niche is an MMORPG that's presented in the form of pixel art, a style many of us love that's never really been fully taken advantage of in the ORPG genre. There's a few games, like ROTMG and Graal, but I think we could definitely take things a step further.

Imagine a Zelda-like game in a massive multiplayer world, with similar arcade-like gameplay, and you have an idea of what we're trying to create here. Less of the puzzles and more of the badass bosses, though. Things like traps in dungeons will still be a thing, but we're focusing on party PvE here when it comes to the content, as well as features that promote competitive PvP.

[u][b]Features?![/b][/u]

We have a lot done so far in the time we've been developing. A good chunk of the art assets and all of the core code (networking, menus, AI, cutscenes/NPCs, etc). We're at the stage where we're just adding quest and dungeon content, along with features to spice things up.

Here's our plans for the beta and what to expect:

- [b]Immerisive storyline.[/b] Enjoy wacky villains and noble comrades as you embark north to reach the world tree and avoid your country's doom. Nine towns each with a challenging boss and several dungeons.

- [b]Every monster is unique.[/b] Even lesser creatures in Severed have special mechanics that make them an interesting encounter... and there's over fifty critters planned to bring the areas to life! From man-eating plants that travel through the ground to pesky shapeshifters, we promise an impressive repertoire of enemies to take down.

- [b]Crafting over shop-bought items.[/b] Every single enemy in the game not only drops awesome gear to outfit your character in, but ingredients that can be used to craft new items. Collecting ingredients to craft new shinies will be a big focus for the game.

- [b]All content is replayable and scalable.[/b] Not only can you relive that incredible boss fight, but you can ramp up the heat. When replaying a dungeon, choose a mode from normal, hard, to extreme difficulty. The rewards scale accordingly.

- [b]Engaging multiplayer features[/b] to climb the leaderboards that reward items for your achievements. Go up against other guilds in MOBA-styled death matches, king of the hill, and capture the flag. Alternatively, join your guild members to face off against challenges in a roguelike mode where you embark through procedurally generated dungeons.

[u][b]Closing Statement[/b][/u]

We're fast approaching a closed beta and we have big plans. We hope to have a Kickstarter up soon to make our ambition a little more realistic and give us some flex-room. I'll be posting progress here on and off, so...

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[size=12pt]Our main goal for all monsters is to be unique, with each one ideally having at least one special attack or some kind of quirky mechanic that sets them apart from others. We're trying to give them an aracade sort of feel where timing is a big part of PvE. Damage will be harsh if you don't move well, and it can be especially difficult in dungeon stages where there's a good dozen or more enemies. Anyway! Here's ten different critters [i](and a chicken)[/i] you'll find in the game...

If you hit the [b]chicken[/b] enough, something special happens... a whole bunch of them are summoned down on you, attacking after being scaled to your level. They'll ignore all other potential targets and chase the perpetrator - they're fast, too! (Brownie points if you recognize the reference)

The [b]big boar[/b] will do two things: if up close, it'll bite at you and deal heavy damage. Once you create some distance, though, it'll initiate a fast paced charge that has an AoE range of 3x3. If it hits into an object along the way, it'll be stunned and vulnerable. This monster is one of many 'elite' types that are tanky and take a while to grind down, as well as heavy hitting to fit.

The [b]bomb[/b] is a Final Fantasy reference, as you may be aware! It's a monster that'll slowly kite away from the player while launching out fireballs, but if its health reaches below 20%? A self-destruct will be triggered where it zaps to the player at high speed and explodes. This one is difficult to avoid, so keep a careful eye on its health bar! We may expand in the future with different bomb variants, like an ice bomb that fires a slowing projectile, for example.

The [b]spider golem[/b] is a high stamina, slow moving monster, that chases the player and attacks them by jumping. It also fires close-ranged red lazors when nearby. Another monster that may see fleshing out with new types, mostly in the area of projectile effects.

The [b]bucket knight[/b] cannot be attacked from the front, with its heavy shield protecting it. If you attack it directly, all damage is negated. You have to move around and try to hit it on its side or back.

[b]Spiders[/b] These are basic critters that fall from cave ceilings and the like. They deal high damage if they land on you.

The [b]ghostie[/b] is a tricky monster that constantly disappears after dashing out at you, leaving only a short amount of space where you can take its health down.

The [b]man-eater[/b] is one of my favourites. If you're in an area where it spawns, it'll dig under the ground and pop up beneath you, dealing high damage. It'll then continue to follow the player while moving underground.

[b]Green snakes[/b] love to jump about. They'll coil back and then dart forward two seconds later, with a range of 3 tiles. They have a chance to poison the player on hit!

[b]Leeches[/b] will slowly crawl to the player. Once nearby, they'll jump at you and attempt to latch on. You can intercept their jump by dealing a bit of damage to them during the leap, or you can avoid its range, which'll cancel the leech out and force them to pause once their jump is on cooldown. Once stuck onto you, though, they'll slow your movements down and slowly drain your health! You have to fend them off by tapping the basic melee attack and they'll eventually fall off.

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Crafting is fully functional! Our crafting menu is fairly simplistic and the goal is for most of the fun to come from adventuring in difficult dungeons to acquire the necessary materials. In most boss fights, more often than not, you'll find yourself looking towards a key ingredient to finish off your recipe than a shiny new weapon- though both will certainly be on the plate!

How it works:

All potential craftable items are displayed like this to start. You'll have no idea what the recipe is, all you'll know is that you've been in an area where you can acquire materials for it.

Once you acquire a material, the recipe unlocks! You can now view the quantity needed of each item, even those you haven't acquired, as well as what you have enough of and what you don't. What isn't shown however is the actual item you're going to be crafting. That's only displayed once...

...you've created the item! Now the recipe will be displayed in your crafting menu forever.

Recipes are prioritized in the following order: able to unlock, incomplete recipes, unlocked recipes, and unknown ones.

Sound Effects

Close to 200 sound effects have been whipped up by CCH Audio! Spells, monsters, environmental, UI, etc that we've added to the game- everything we'll need for our game's trailer, that we'll be using for a Kickstarter campaign. He's also going to be designing our trailer's theme once we have a video ready.

Easter Bunny!

This is a side boss the player can encounter on a route to the second town. A picnic basket in a secluded area that an easter egg can be placed on. The easter egg is a rare monster drop that can be found on local man-eating bunnies. Once inserted onto the picnic basket, it spawns a boss fight...

The easter bunny is a tough cookie that lays timed grenades throughout the course of the battle. More often or not, there will be 3-6 of these grenades ready to beep away and blow up, detonating AoEs inside of the small enclosed area! The easter bunny's punches and jumps also pack a lot of weight, able to knock the player back up to three tiles.

One of the potential loot rewards are actual egg grenades! You get five of these that you can slot onto your hotbar and activate as if they were an actual spell.

Art!

Our artist, Sato, has been caught up in various matters over the past month but now he's back in gear full-time! He's going to be working on things for our storyline, like new NPCs and bosses. Here's the priestess he drew yesterday, a chirpy healer that accompanies you during a dungeon through the sewers. She's based off of a friend's character.